Bill and Patty Eisenbart and daughter, Abby, 18, escaped uninjured when their home west of Iola, 1475 400 St., caught fire early Tuesday morning.
“She saved our lives,” Patty Eisenbart said of Abby.
A return air vent in Abby’s room was the first path for smoke from the home’s basement, where a fire of unknown origin started between its ceiling and the floor above.
“When her room started to fill with smoke, Abby woke up and got us up,” Eisenbart said. “We got out in the hall and called 911.”
The call came at 4:29 a.m., said Iola Fire Chief Don Leapheart. Firefighters were on the scene within 15 minutes, with two trucks and 4,000 gallons of water.
When firefighters had the house in view they saw smoke coming from an exterior vent. They quickly found the basement filled with smoke, Leapheart said.
Iola firefighters, with the help of Allen County Volunteers, pulled Sheetrock from the basement ceiling and were able to knock down the fire in relatively short order, Leapheart said.
“But, there was a lot of smoke and water damage to the house,” he said.
“We’re going to have to completely gut it,” Patty said.
The Eisenbarts are staying with friends and probably will rent a house in Iola soon, she said. Redoing their home will take some time, Eisenbart added. “But, no one was hurt. That’s truly a blessing.”
Daughter ‘saved our lives’
